Sebaceous Carcinoma Treated With Mohs Micrographic Surgery

Background: Sebaceous carcinoma is a rare and potentially aggressive adnexal neoplasm with historic data indicating high rates of recurrence, metastasis, and cancer-specific mortality.

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of local recurrence, metastasis, disease-specific mortality, and all-cause mortality and to identify work-up approaches.

Patients And Methods/materials: Retrospective review of patients with sebaceous carcinoma treated with Mohs micrographic surgery between 2001 and 2013 at one institution.

Results: Thirty-seven patients had 45 sebaceous carcinomas located on the periocular region (13%), non-periocular face (47%), scalp (7%), neck (4%), trunk (9%), and extremities (20%). The mean age was 66.1 years, and 24 (65%) patients were male. Five patients had Muir-Torre syndrome (MTS) or Lynch syndrome. Seven of 12 tumors showed loss of expression of ≥1 mismatch repair gene. The most common work-up involved taking a detailed personal and family medical history. No local recurrences, metastases, or disease-specific deaths occurred during an average follow-up of 3.6 years.

Conclusion: Mohs micrographic surgery is an effective treatment for sebaceous carcinoma. Detailed history taking, age-appropriate cancer screening, and immunohistochemical staining with MLH1, MSH2, or MSH6 is helpful in identifying which patients should be referred to a geneticist for work-up of MTS.